7 Days of Smiles
Our translator arrived back in town this week and we had a very productive meeting with her this weekend. We discussed our training plan for Sister 3 as well as some great opportunities to work with a translation company to begin the translation of the gospel into a specific dialect of a people group we work with.
It has been amazing to see Father handpick her to be a part of our team to expand the chch planting movement we have been called to lead. We will be meeting this week to resume our training with Sister 3.
We have an awesome friendship with a young married couple in town whom we’ve known the wife for 10 years. She was a student on our campus in 2005 and was led to the Father by a team from LABC that summer. Becky also met her in 2005 and has been friends with her since then. Right before we came back to the states in December, we had dinner with them and they told us they had just found out they were expecting their first child earlier that day.
We had lunch with them this weekend and she is now 4 months pregnant! R is a family member, but her husband A is not. However, our time together this weekend really showed significant movement forward for him. We pry together over meals all of the time, and he always watches us. This time, he actually pryed. Also, he asked us to give their child an English name that means courage, love, and faith. We are excited to dig into scripture and pour out the words of the Father that speaks on the miracle of having a baby. Chris will be meeting with him this week for a bike ride and plans to continue to share the message with him. Becky is going with R to her sonogram apt on Saturday. We place this couple in the Father’s hands and we are thankful for the chance to love them and live life together.
To end the week we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to local villages with our friends. Two days of village trips brought everyone closer, and brought some new friendships. To end the final day, we came across an outdoor post being built for local camp spots and laser tag. The owner invited us in for a meal and took us to a secret cave...then asked us to all test out his laser tag set-up. We plan on taking many students there as well as our teams this summer!
We are thankful for everyone who continues to Pr for us and His work. Here is what we are thankful for and some answered Pr's:
- We are praising Father for reuniting us with our translator and that she is able to stay in our town to work with us as a team!
- We are both taking medicine for infections and we are starting to feel a little better!
- We celebrate Chris' birthday this week and we are thankful to Father for giving him life!
As for this coming week, here is our agenda and Pr Requests:
Becky will be sharing the story of Easter with nearly 200 students this week. They will dye Easter eggs together and talk about the celebration of New Life. Many of them will hear this story for the first time. We also have a student holiday next weekend called, “Tomb Sweeping Day” where people from all over this country return to the graves and tombs of their passed loved ones and worship them.
They burn paper money, pictures of houses, celebrities, and food because they believe that the smoke will rise up and reach the souls of their passed family members in the next life. It is really cool that Easter falls on the same day as this holiday. We are ready to use this opportunity as much as we can to reveal to them the true meaning of the Tomb and what it has to offer!
- Our village cell trainings will resume. We are excited to see S3 and our translator after a long holiday!
- We will be hosting an Easter gathering in our home this weekend. We ask Father to prepare the way for our guests to know more about Him.
- We will be delivering supplies to the orphanage/nursing home as well as treating our driver to a dinner and a day of fishing.
- Sunday is becoming a time for a weekly bike ride and time to share with those in town
- Chris will be heading to Spider Crag with students for some cleaning and building
- Pr Request: Please pry for protection and security for the location of our meetings.
- Pr Request: We ask for students to be thirsty for the truth that they will hear in the classroom, and be open to accepting it.
- Pr Request: For our translator's company to send her a team of people to assist her in scripture translation;
- Pr Request: For our translator to completely reach her fundraising goal. Currently she is at 75% and must reach 95% before June for her upcoming year’s budget. Father has placed it on our heart to pry diligently about how we can help support her.
